Margie Krest is the owner and founder of Dancing the Soul. After teaching for many years in academia, Margie resigned her faculty position to follow her heart. Her heart led her to study at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health where she was able to connect more fully with her body and find a direction for the Center she envisioned: a place where others have the opportunity to listen to their inner rhythms and connect to their bodies and hearts, a place for community, play and acceptance.

Certified in Yoga, Trauma Sensitive Yoga, Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation), Yoga Dance and TaijiFit, Margie brings to her own classes a sense of community and self-awareness that encourages students to focus not only on the movements of the body but the way in which movement and stillness allow them to open their hearts.

Ann Musman-Quigley’s love for movement and stillness began as a small child. Her mother danced and she was encouraged in her study of ballet, jazz and modern technique. She later studied pedagogy, body alignment and dance therapy; Feldenkreis Awareness through Movement classes and her most recent passion has been yoga. She began classes 12 years ago, loved the philosophy, learning about the power of our breath, and became a certified yoga instructor. She has performed, and choreographed professionally. She was co-founder and co-director of Children’s Dance Place a school for creative movement and modern dance. She has worked for Art Reach and Very Special Arts with students of many abilities. She has taught private and group yoga classes. Ann is a second generation Colorado native. She has been married for 33 years to a supportive husband who has helped her follow her heart. She has two lovely, grown daughters and they love to dance too!

Ben has practiced Oriental Medicine since 2001. A graduate of Brown University and the New England School of Acupuncture, Ben has been nationally certified by the National Certification Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) in both Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine.

Ben centers his acupuncture approach in Japanese acupuncture, Dr. Richard Tan’s Balance Methods and Master Tung distal acupuncture methods. He is also the developer of Backupuncture, a non-manipulative approach to instantly correcting misalignments and chronic pain of the spine using acupuncture, acupressure, electrical stimulation or cold laser. Besides acupuncture, Ben also practices craniosacral therapy, and has been a long-time practitioner of shamanic healing practices, as well as an instructor of awareness and pain relief meditation in the Zen tradition since 1995. He has had a practice in Cortez, CO since 2003 and is in transition to living full time in Denver, where he hopes to pursue a doctorate, teach and research acupuncture.

Christy Cutler has been involved in movement education since 1984 and is known for her gentle, supportive approach to teaching. Prior to teaching the Feldenkrais Method (Awareness through Movement), Christy directed Children’s Dance Place a school specializing in creative movement for children aged 1-14, located in Denver. Her movement background includes modern dance, yoga, creative movement, folk andethnic dance. Christy was drawn to study Feldenkrais after benefitting from Awareness Through Movement classes for many years. She infuses her classes with a sensitivity to and awareness of the ways in which movement and stillness affect the body and spirit. Her enthusiasm for what she teaches is infectious!

Eric Imbody has studied 31 forms of Tai Chi and Qigong over the last 28 years, including Primordial Qigong, five Animal Frolics, Tai Chi Chih and Hua Healing Sounds.He feels blessed to have had the opportunity to train with American Qigong Master Ken Cohen. Eric takes a lighthearted approach to teaching. He encourages his students to play as they become familiar with specific forms. He will frequently ask, “How do we apply these lessons we learn to our lives?” Using a principle such as wu wei (only using the effort that is required, and no more) Eric often reminds students to conserve chi and use it wisely. Eric teaches throughout the Denver area and sits on the Board of Directors of the National Qigong Association.

Helen has been practicing yoga for over 15 years. What attracted her to yoga was the calming effects it had in her life as she attempted to balance the raising her 3 sons while working full time as a paralegal.

Once her sons left the nest (technically speaking), Helen wanted to deepen her understanding of yoga and enrolled in the Axis 200 hour training program. The experience became a pivotal point in her life and lead her to enroll in Reiki I and II training courses.

Helen is honored to offer opportunities to others to experience the healing and calmness properties of both yoga and reiki.

Jennifer Ouimette first experienced the Tantric Dance of the Sacred Feminine in 2005, and she has been practicing this transformative movement meditation ever since. As a dance facilitator and a licensed massage therapist, she has learned how to assist others in moving energy to release holding patterns that create dis-ease. Jennifer integrates her knowledge of energy and the body into her dance classes. She believes in the healing power of love and brings a high level of loving presence to her dance and massage therapy practice. Also, Jennifer’s Harmonic Healing Massage Therapy practice is thriving in the DtS Healing Arts Room! Call her directly for a full-body massage, chair massage or an ionic foot soak: 720-771-5755

Krystle Barth grew up in Denver and finds joy in dance, art and science. While working on her degree Biology at MSU Denver, she discovered a Belly Dance classes offered by Lia Ridley. For Krystle, belly dance was liberating; she instantly fell in love with the dance form. She soon became a teaching assistant and in 2013 she co-founded the Beat Nomads Belly Dance Troupe. Since then, she has been performing, teaching and continuing to train under numerous local and internationally recognized belly dance instructors. For Krystle, belly dance has been a tool used to understand and express the human experience. It has provided opportunities for storytelling, movement art, social commentary, costume design, deeper music appreciation, building self-confidence and discovering her love of teaching. As a teacher she encourages students to love their bodies and explore how dance can move them both physically and emotionally. Through the development of sharp technique and clear dance vocabulary, Krystle aims to guide students in finding their own personal style and means of self-expression. As a fusion belly dancer she welcomes and plays with many additional dance styles including modern dance, hip-hop, flamenco and Indian dance.

Lia Ridley teaches the Gypsy style of Belly Dance, offering students an opportunity to move closer to their feelings and a format through which to voice them. She was introduced to this dance form at age 5, in her hometown of Dej in the province of Transylvania, Romania. She observed the Gypsies and was deeply inspired by their spirited dancing and the freedom they exhibited. Women of the Middle East have enjoyed this joyous, expressive, cultural art form for centuries. Lia performs periodically with her troupe, Divine Gypsies, teaches a credited Belly Dance class at Metropolitan State College, and is currently an English Language Acquisition facilitator in the Denver Public Schools.

Linda Sue Shirkey is one of those rare Denver natives.For over 35 years, she has been working in various creative fields, from coaching ice skating to building her own interior design business. Linda Sue began practicing yoga 30 years ago. One of her teachers persuaded her to take yoga teacher training, which she completed in 2001 at Total Yoga in Ahmedabad, India. Linda believes that yoga enables people to find their inner beauty. Thus, she guides herstudents to those places where they can find that beauty and then express it through movement, breathing and stillness.

Mahdyeh is a Denver native who began her belly dancing career in elementary education. She found an instantaneous love, ability and spiritual release in blending different sounds and different dance styles with the ancient art of belly dance. Mahdyeh has used her training as a teacher to help develop cohesive and attainable class structures for dance. She has trained in numerous dance styles, has taught belly dance at the high school level and is a co-founder of the Beat Nomads Belly Dancing Troupe. As a new mom, Mahdyeh loves the physical strength that belly dancing cultivates within the body. As an artist, she loves having the ability to use mind, body and emotion to create art. As a dancer, she loves the muscle and memory building movement that melts into the smooth, slinky motions of belly dance. She hopes to connect her students to the strength and love within each body, the creativity within each mind and the beauty of each passionate soul. When she isn’t dancing she is usually outdoors hiking, camping, reading, doing yoga and Pilates, or taking her daughter on an adventure.

Melissa Williams’ journey is an incredible one of determination, hard work and commitment. In 2008, she was in her mid-twenties, had terrible eating habits, never exercised and was close to 300 pounds. After bariatric surgery, she realized that the surgery was only the starting point to turning her life around. Making and maintaining healthy choices and exercising regularly was the key.

But staying at home to exercise in front of a DVD wasn’t the answer either. Melissa knew she needed a public setting to hold herself accountable. It was then that she discovered Zumba at Studio Thrive. Very soon after, she became licensed to teach Zumba. Her Zumba classes are high energy and she constantly changes the moves and music to keep the class interesting. In addition to teaching Zumba, Melissa runs, hikes, plays tennis, and ballroom dances. Come play and be inspired in her class.

Michelle Oberle is in her 2nd year as a Zumba instructor. After years of triathlon and run training, Michelle felt stuck and bored with her workouts. She first discovered Zumba in San Jose, CA and immediately fell in love! She was able to maintain her cardio and athletic performance while having fun dancing for some of her workouts. Michelle believes you owe it to your future self to stay active and healthy – the 90 year old you will thank you!

In addition to Zumba, Michelle is also Aqua Zumba® and STRONG by Zumba® certified. When she isn’t teaching, Michelle spends time with her two pups – Bailey & Brad, on projects for her dog rescue, The Good Dog Rescue, and enjoying time with her family and friends!

Dancing is a deep passion for Natalie Gentry, almost as much a part of her as breathing. Dancing is medicine for her soul, especially when she is lost in movement. Her offering is a Conscious Dance Lab, and her intention is to invite participants to play in conscious movement with a little Soul Motion flavor. Get out of the mind and into the body! Allow impulses, feelings, senses, and sensations to inspire our movements!

Natalie believes that there is a deep connection between how we feel and move in our bodies and how we feel and move in our lives. How could your life shift if what you experience on the dance floor inspires how you move through your life?

Her movement experience includes ballet, Swing Choir (singing and dancing), aerobics, African dance, belly dancing, tango, Nia, Body Mantra, and Soul Motion. She is also a Soul Motion leader-in-training. These movement forms, coupled with 20 years of experience as a massage therapist and 8 years of experience as a breath coach, have helped her to develop a solid life practice of noticing how to live in her body and move through her life.

Peggy has practiced Reiki and Healing Touch for 10 years. She received her education in the healing arts in Durango, Colorado.

Peggy achieved the highest level of Healing Touch certification through Mercy Medical Center and Master Level Reiki certification through Land Cloud Studios. These methods focus on subtle energy allowing healing to occur on all levels – spiritual, emotional, physical and mental as guided by the relationship between healer and client.

She uses these modalities in her sessions to assist clients in releasing what is no longer needed for them and to connect them to the life force energy of the universe. She enjoys helping clients to come into relationship with their highest selves.

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Shira Salzberg’s love of movement inspired her to become a practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education. She has also had the opportunity to study and teach the Child’Space method that focuses on infant developmental movement. Shira has taught Creative Dance to pre-schoolers at Children’s Dance Place and Between the Bones.

As a mother of 4 and now with 3 grandchildren, Shira became more aware of the developmental value of exploration and learning through movement. She enjoys revisiting the richness of these movements with her adult students so that they can more fully move through their lives. Shira feels that each class is an exploration in how touch and movement support our healthiest, happiest selves. Her hope is that every person in her class will find something that is personally meaningful and useful in order to experience more ease, coordination and balance in their lives.

Sonia Wolf is a a Trance Dance Space Holder, Certified Yoga Instructor, and Shamanic Practitioner. Sonia is French, with Italian and Spanish roots. She was raised in Africa and islands of the Indian Ocean. She has been traveling in Africa, Europe, India, Asia and United States studying Yoga, Shamanism and Dance. She incorporates many of the shamanic and movement transformative tools of those cultures into her own work.

Sonia has been a spiritual seeker since childhood, and has always been interested in the body, movement, and rhythms and how they intersect with the spiritual, sacred, and nature. She loves leading groups of people beyond the normal five senses into trance states, where we can dance, journey, pray, and experience Oneness.

The cornerstone for everything in Yolanda’s life is community. Consciously nurturing relationships and community building, whether it be in the refugee community, literacy promoting and literary communities, spiritual and healing communities, or embodiment practice communities is what Yolanda sees as essential.

Day by day, Yolanda strives to co-create, deepen and widen with others a culture of trust, creative inquiry, and deep respect for self, others and the Earth that sustains us.

“And Wherever possible, I want it to be fun.”

Dancing the Soul has been a home to Yolanda for years as she explored the many movement and healing modalities offered. She is happy to now be front desk/support staff and help to welcome others looking to get in touch and in balance with themselves, and to laugh, have fun, and ‘add their light to the sum of light’ in a safe and sacred space.